International Law

Short or Fat Need Not Apply to PKU Med School

By Stan

This story from Danwei is highly entertaining. Here are the particulars:

The Peking University Health Science Center, the university’s medical school, recently released admission standards that disqualify applicants deemed overweight, short (1.6m for men and 1.5m for women), or who have liver conditions, despite their academic performance.

Yirenping (???), a Beijing-based non-governmental organization that is dedicated to helping patients suffering from AIDS, Hepatitis B, and other chronic diseases, criticized the rules as discriminatory and unconstitutional. In addition, the organization filed a complaint with the government, demanding that the rules be canceled.

The university administration responded by stating the standards are responsible because applicants who fall under the listed categories would have a high chance of unemployment upon graduation if they were admitted. “If we don’t screen them now, it will be too late when they regret their choice,” said an anonymous source responsible for recruitment at the school.

This is not exactly my area of expertise, so I have no idea whether PKU is violating any laws here with respect to short or fat people (I would guess no). The infectious disease part is probably even more acceptable, seeing as how the school has at least an argument that certain school venues might include the danger of needle sticks or other ways that bodily fluids could be transmitted to others — the danger could be mitigated, I’m sure, but at least they have this as a basis of argument.

What’s interesting about this is the statement by the administration. Their best argument is that fat and short applicants might have trouble getting jobs when they matriculate?

On that basis, the school should also turn away applicants who are:

1. Incurably ugly;

2. Insufferably arrogant (PKU med school - this covers at least 70% of the student body no doubt, although they do have the right to be arrogant, I suppose);

3. Otherwise funny looking (e.g. lazy eye, stupid smile, strange hairstyle); and

4. Poor (cause those people won’t have the necessary guanxi to get the top jobs anyway).

Can you imagine being some feckless kid who has studied for his whole life to get into Beida med school, passes all the other admissions requirements easily, but misses the cut because he ate an extra you tiao or jian bing that morning before his physical exam and missed the limit by one jin?

Makes you want to cry, or sue someone, or something.

© Stan for China Hearsay, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us

Full post as published by China Hearsay on April 21, 2009 (boomark / email).